Balloons, helium, strings (ideally with quick closure), punched balloon cards (ideally by balloco), permits if necessary
We recommend high-quality latex balloons, ideally biodegradable to protect the environment. Make sure that they can hold a helium volume of at least approx. 15 liters in order to carry the weight of a balloon card safely and as far as possible. This is the case for round balloons with a diameter of 30 cm (slightly more for heart balloons, approx. 45 cm).
Don't blindly trust the information on the helium bottles about how many balloons the helium quantity is supposedly sufficient for. Before buying, check how many of your balloons the quantity is actually sufficient for. As mentioned, a quantity of 15 liters per balloon is a good guideline, provided your balloons can hold this amount. Common disposable bottles have 200 or 400 liters of helium, which means you will probably need several for medium-sized events. Even if the helium suppliers often talk about (for example) 50 balloons per bottle: please note that the quantity often refers to balloons with a diameter of only 23 cm, for example, which we do not recommend due to their limited carrying capacity.
It is best to use quick balloon clips - these make work at the event much easier. Preferably made of degradable material, for example cardboard.
It is best to fill a test balloon first and attach a card and string to it. Then you can check whether it can still rise effortlessly despite the card. If not, increase the amount of helium. This will prevent you from filling all the balloons with too little helium and only then realizing that they cannot rise with the cards - the worst-case scenario for any balloon flight.
Keep sufficient distance from trees when releasing balloons, especially in windy conditions. Otherwise most of the balloons can get caught in the treetops just after the launch.
Use biodegradable balloons made from natural rubber. Make sure that the strings and closures are also biodegradable. And use balloco, as the amount of plastic of every balloon flown is taken out of the sea (for balloco Premium even 10 times the amount).
This depends heavily on your country and can change at any time, so please always do your own research. For Germany, you can find the most important information at the German Air Traffic Control..
As soon as you create a card set at balloco, you also receive a PDF file containing QR codes on labels. Simply print this onto suitable label sheets, then you can stick these QR code labels onto your own balloon cards. Hence you can benefit from balloco with any arbitrary balloon card (including digital greetings, plastic neutrality, sending back digitally)!
No, the labels (File 'A4_Labels_70mm_x_36mm.pdf') contain just the same QR codes like the balloon cards (File 'A6_Front.pdf', 'A6_Duplex.pdf' resp. 'A4_Back.pdf'). Consequently, you do not need them when using balloco's balloon cards.
We do not recommend this. First, it is not guaranteed that every card is actually found. Second, many finders will choose to send the card back digitally. Third, balloons can fly to foreign countries, where other stamps are necessary. In all cases, you as a host would have invested in a stamp without any use.
Make sure to apply the correct printer settings for the paper type, e.g. cardboard paper. Then your printer will apply a higher temperature, which is necessary for thicker paper.
Simple use is balloco's main feature ― which does not allow having multiple QR codes on one card. Therefore, there are two phases for a card set: greeting and finding phase. As long as a card set is in its greeting phase, scanning its QR code directs the user to a page to submit greetings. This is intended for your event's guests. Scanning the QR code of a card belonging to a card in its finding phase directs the user to a page to send the card back digitally. This is intended for the card's finder.
Per default, a card set's phase is automatically changed when the day of the event ends, i.e. on midnight. You can disable this behavior if necessary. However, you can also start the finding phase manually. The perfect time for this is as soon as all balloons have flown.
You can inspect and test these pages as demo versions. All you upload on these demo pages is not saved by balloco or anyone else.
Greeting phase: page to submit greetings
Finding phase: page to send the card back digitally
One card can be scanned an arbitrary number of times. Scanning itself does not have any effect yet ― instead, the user is redirected to a page where he or she can submit greetings (during greeting phase) resp. send back the card digitally (during finding phase).
No, balloco is a pure web app. Which means: It works without any installation of anything in more or less every modern browser on every internet device. Scanning of QR codes requires a device equipped with a camera, and able to process QR codes. This applies to close to all modern smartphones. If this is not the case, you can find various apps in your App Store/on Google Play if you search for 'QR Code Scanner'.
No, you don't. As soon as you have your balloon cards in your hands, they are ready to use. Simply test it by scanning a QR code ― you will be taken to the page on which your guests can later submit their greetings!
Of course! First, the page for submitting greetings is made easy and straightforward to understand (here you find a preview version for testing). If there should be some smaller problems nevertheless, guests normally are keen on helping each other. And if nothing helps, it is still possible to fill out the cards 'old-school' by using a pen.
Text messages can have arbitrary length. Videos and voice messages (available for balloco Premium) maximum 10 minutes.
In theory this works multiple times, however it is intended that every guest uses his/her own card. E.g., only one guest name is saved per card ― the name of the last guest who submitted greetings using this card. However, if one guest would like to add some additional greetings after having already submitted some, this is still possible!
The first 5 cards arriving at balloco via post office mail are forwarded to you for only 3,99 € for each card ― additional cards for free! This means for you:
All pricing information can be found here.
Worldwide, for the same price. Please consider, however, mail transit times to and from Germany where balloco's hub is located.
No, it cannot. As soon as it is marked as found once, this cannot be done another time.
Balloco displays the page shown after sending a QR code in the scanning user's language, if possible. If balloco cannot provide the text in the user's native language, the page is displayed in English language. Consequently, language barriers should not exist anymore!
In these cases you will be notified by e-mail.
Only the registered user who created the card set can access these greetings, resp. users to whom a card set was transferred. This can be done especially from Maid of Honor/Best man to the bridal couple. This means: No guest scanning a particular card can see greetings which might already have been submitted using this card. The same applies for finders as well.
Balloco applies the procedure from the analogue world to the digital. This means that you, resp. the cannot see any of the greetings initially. They can be accessed as soon as this card was found digitally or received by balloco via post office mail.
Beginning one month after the event, balloco, however, reveals once per week one card that was not found up to now! Including its digital greetings! That means, in contrast to conventional balloon releases no greeting gets lost! And you receive a memory of your event continuously every week, until all the cards in your account have been revealed!
It is possible for you to transfer any card set to another account. Therefore, it is necessary to add the bridal bridal couple's/
You can still check out the greetings in the form of a photo book after the transfer. This way, if you want to give the bridal couple/
However, if balloco receives a card via post office mail (in scope of Forwarding Service), you will still be notified as well. After that, you can order the card to be sent to the final recipient for only 3,99 € for each card ― only for the first 5 cards, the rest is for free!
For an unlimited period of time ― even years later.
We are always there for you:
E-mail: support@balloco.net